A letter from our family to yours

Each year, our family puts together a letter to our supporters to give an update on all things Elijah and our fundraising events. Since our community has grown so much this year, we decided to share an electronic version of the letter...without further anticipation, here it is. (JR)

 

Dear family and friends,

They say time changes everything. How right this saying is. A year ago, the highlight of our annual letter was the great news that Elijah had recently begun using a communication device to convey his wants and needs to us. We are so happy to say that in the last year, Elijah has surpassed his communication device and is fully communicating with us using words and sentences up to 8-10 words at a time! Words can’t express the joy we have, looking back now at how Elijah accomplished this by the age of 5, a vital ingredient of everyday life that one doctor said he would never do.

Along with the new found communication skills, we have noticed a natural improvement with Elijah’s social interaction. While we used to long for Elijah and Ryder to simply tolerate playing in the same vicinity, they have a new loving bond that is so awesome to see. Not only do they play well with each other, but they are best friends…and they are getting pretty good at conspiring together against us! Elijah’s teachers are happy to report this applies to school as well. It’s remarkable to pick him up each day and see the beginning of friendships being forged with his newfound skills!

Nothing great comes without heartache and sacrifice, and Elijah’s progress is no exception. Late last spring, we made the tough decision to consult with Elijah’s specialist in Des Moines to begin medication to help ease Elijah’s over stimulation and anxiety. We also made the decision to move our family to Pocahontas last August to give the boys and ourselves more opportunities within the community. While both of these decisions were very difficult to make, and were a huge adjustment for us all, especially Elijah, we are happy to see that both have made a huge impact on our family’s life and Elijah’s continued development. While future challenges are unavoidable, we feel that these major changes have put Elijah in a much better position to succeed to the most of his abilities.

With our move, our little boy has become quite the social butterfly. Elijah now finds great joy in going to Subway and getting a cookie or picking out his favorite foods at the local grocery store. Along with these trips, Elijah is working on social skills that will serve him well into the future. It is also a great way for him to work on communicating in a public setting, which is still somewhat of a challenge. It is also truly awesome to see so many members of the community creating bonds with our little boy, going out of their way to make experiences positive for Elijah, and offering encouragement along the way.

On our front, we had another great year of fundraising. Last year we took a new approach and instead of donating all of our proceeds to national organizations, we worked with local organizations like the Prairie Lakes AEA and Faith, Hope & Charity to make an impact in our area communities with a portion of our fundraising. We also reached out to a handful of school districts last April and read a book about Autism to the children, to increase awareness and understanding. We then donated the book for future classes to utilize. On a really exciting note, we were also able to take Elijah’s message to a worldwide stage with our good friend Matt Buyten, who rode a blue bike and had Elijah’s logo on his jersey at last year’s ESPN X Games to increase awareness.

Like every year, we have a full slate of events to offer you ways to support ERAAAP and our autism fundraisers. Once again, we are creating walk t-shirts for the cause. This year for something new we are offering additional styles of shirts and even fitted hats. You can see all the designs at http://keepcalmandbelieve.bigcartel.com . Orders are due by March 8^th. If for some reason you are unable to purchase online, and would like a shirt, please contact us and we’ll get you set up. In addition to our annual events like the autism walk and dinner in Storm Lake (April 19^th) and Iowa Autism Walk (June 8^th), we are playing a fundraising golf tournament in Pocahontas (April 21^st) as well as working with Cody Gilmore (Minneapolis Supercross April 12^th) and Matt Buyten (X Games) on awareness projects during motocross events on a national scale. You can stay up to date on our events on our blog at http://elijahsproject.blogspot.com We will also be using the blog to share progress on Elijah and other things autism related!

From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank each and every one of you that have supported Elijah and ERAAAP in the past three years. Whether it was walking for the cause, sporting a blue shirt, or just offering words of support on Facebook, we could never truly express how much it all means to us. It is amazing how far the story of our bright, blue-eyed little boy has gone in such a short period of time, and equally inspiring as we look forward to each year filled with more and more opportunities to make a difference. Now more than ever, we can see the difference that a little faith and a lot of love can make. All we can do now is continue to KEEP CALM AND BELIEVE. Thank you for believing in Elijah, in our family, in ERAAAP, and that the future CAN and WILL be a better place for children with autism. We couldn’t do it without you.

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Jeremy, Melissa, Elijah, Ryder Riesenberg